Nirmala (Nimmi) Ramanujam[4] is an educator, innovator, and entrepreneur.[5] Ramanujam is recognized for creating globally accessible technologies for women’s health related to cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. She is the Robert W. Carr Professor of Engineering and Professor of Cancer Pharmacology and Global Health at Duke University.[6] She founded the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies (GWHT) in 2013 to catalyze impactful research, educational and community outreach activities that promote women’s health.[6] In 2023, she won the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Technical Field Award, given annually for outstanding contributions to the field of Biomedical engineering.[7] In 2019, she received the social impact Abie Award for making a positive impact on women, technology, and society.[8] She was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2017.[9] She founded Calla Health to commercialize technologies developed at the center. Further she has created a number of initiatives and consortia including WISH, (In)visible Organ and IGNITE to have far reaching impact in cervical cancer, reproductive health and engineering design education, respectively.
Early life
Ramanujam, who spent most of her formative years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with brief stays in Mysore and Bangalore, India, was introduced to the world of music at a young age.[10] Her mother, a veena player, instilled in her a love for the ancient Indian instrument, and Ramanujam dedicated herself to mastering it from the age of five. Her hard work and talent earned her numerous opportunities to perform on radio broadcasts and at concerts throughout her school years.
Ramanujam sees similarities between her approach to music and her engineering work. She compares her purposeful problem-solving in engineering to mastering a musical melody.[10] Although trained musicians have techniques and tools to assist them in tackling a difficult piece, Ramanujam envisions the solution to engineering problems first and then finds or develops the necessary tools. Her musical background also inspires her to take a more creative and collaborative approach to problem-solving.
Education and career
Ramanujam obtained her Ph.D. degree at the University of Texas at Austin. She progressed steadily through the ranks as an academic researcher; the first five years as a research scientist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, the next five as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the following five as an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University.[9] In 2011 she was promoted to full professor.
Ramanujam addresses pressing challenges in women’s cancers, specifically, cervical and breast cancer. Ramanujam creates technologies that transform complex diagnostic instruments and therapies into accessible, affordable, and appropriate solutions. Several of these products are now being used in several countries in the U.S., Latin America, and Africa. She has developed a network of partners including academic institutions and hospitals, non-governmental organizations, ministries of health, and commercial partners to implement these technologies in diverse healthcare settings globally.[5]
She has used her expertise in imaging and human-centered design to develop the Pocket colposcope[11] which is on the WHO list of devices for cervical cancer imaging.[12] A sister device, the Callascope is a self-use speculum-free imaging device, which allows women to screen themselves privately without the need for an intrusive, pelvic exam.[13] She has developed a translational microscope called the CapCell Scope to identify biomarkers of metabolism that reflect tumor behavior, including growth, proliferation, and treatment resistance, aimed at informing drug selection for breast cancer treatment. She has developed an ultra-low-cost injectable liquid-based ablation therapy that disrupts tumors locally as well as elicits an anti-tumor immune response to address an important gap – the lack of access to surgery to the world’s most vulnerable populations.[14]
Ramanujam has also created several global initiatives that strive to achieve enduring impact in health and education. Her innovations have a common wellspring - they are all connected and come from a place of wanting to create and make something that doesn’t exist in this form and can touch many lives just like a piece of music, which has universal appeal.[9]
The most prominent is a consortium called Women Inspired Strategies for Health (WISH) to improve cervical cancer prevention in low-resource settings globally.[15] She is working with partners worldwide to ensure that technologies and strategies for addressing cervical cancer are adopted by cancer control programs in geographically and economically diverse healthcare settings.[5][15] These partnerships have resulted in see-and-treat cancer control strategies in the least resourced settings that are in clinical deserts.[15] WISH has been recognized by the MacArthur Foundation as one of the top 100 most transformative and impactful solutions, a testament to its significance in redesigning the health system.
Ramanujam has also launched an arts and storytelling initiative, The Invisible Organ to raise awareness of sexual and reproductive health inequities.[16] An educational documentary with a similar name was created and has been screened at conferences and by multiple artists and students across the U.S. This film was officially selected for the Women at the Center Film Festival at the International Papillomavirus Conference in 2020. She also co-led the curation of an art exhibit to bring together a collection of visual arts, medical photography, sculptures, and installations, both a physical exhibit and a digital moving gallery to express the stigma and shame associated with female anatomy.[17]
She has also created a global education program that intersects design thinking, STEM concepts, and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals to promote social justice awareness (IGNITE).[18] The participatory learning curricula have been implemented in more than four countries with broad-ranging impact. For example, students living around the contaminated Lake Atitlan, in Guatemala learned how to design engineering solutions for clean water. Similarly, students in Muhuru Bay, Kenya were able to design renewable energy flashlights for personal use during frequent power outages.[19]
Awards and Honors
Ramanujam is internationally recognized for her contributions to innovation, education, and entrepreneurship and received numerous awards most notably, the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Technical Field Award, and the Social Impact Abie Award.[20] She is a Fulbright scholar,[21] a member of the National Academy of Inventors, and a fellow of international professional societies in her field. She has also been invited for speaking engagements at the United Nations, as a TEDx speaker, and has been invited to give plenary talks on her work all over the world.[22]
